The future site of Wall Centre Central Park is hard to miss. Emblazoned on massive billboards, visible to every eye on the surrounding Boundary, Vanness and Kingsway streets, the numbers scream “299 homes for under $299,900.”

It’s a catchy marketing slogan, yes, and likely to stick in the minds of the many commuters who travel by the Vancouver-Burnaby border every day.

As rhythmic as “299 under $299,900” may be, the fact is that there are 390 homes available for less than $299,900.

However, the phrase has such a ring to it, it’s going to stay, jokes Bob Rennie, of Rennie Marketing Systems, the sales organizer of the project, which launches sales today. (Doors open at 9 a.m., and the first 1,000 visitors will receive a $25 gift card for Metropolis at Metrotown, with one card per household).

“In this market, we want to under-promise and over-achieve, because everybody’s skeptical, and people would think, ‘Oh yeah, from 299 — they probably have one of them, and what’s the chance of me getting in?’ Those were the myths we wanted to break,” Rennie says.

Wall Centre Central Park is the latest community from Peter Wall, a name synonymous with upscale hotel and residential towers downtown, in False Creek, and in the near future, on East Hastings.

The project’s first phase includes one 36-level tower, a 33-storey tower and an eight-floor low-rise containing townhomes and garden homes, (Another tower is planned for a future phase). Both towers will be surrounded by gardens, and homeowners will have access to a large common lounge, fitness centre and swimming pool.

But back to that price: with a 25-per-cent deposit, the average mortgage payment comes out to $1,100 monthly, Rennie says. That’s the magnet for residents of Burnaby and the Collingwood region of Vancouver, who make up many of the visitors to the large presentation centre on Ormidale Street, according to Rennie. His marketing team welcomes at least 80 parties a day during business hours and more than 150 each day on the weekend.

Building in harmony with the modest, established Collingwood community surrounding the project is vital to its success, he says.

The Ormidale Street presentation centre is surrounded by older single-family homes to the direct west, many of them Vancouver Specials. Across the street stand two towers and one low-rise West Coast style apartment building, a sign that this older community is ready to welcome a denser population. Kingsway’s shops and services show a down-to-earth, established community. Lined with many mom-and-pop businesses, the neighbourhood takes pride in its middle and working-class roots and history.

“The key to Peter Wall’s business success is he always takes a great location and undersides the product that the neighbourhood is demanding so that more people can buy.

“If he priced it at under $400,000, it would sell, but his attitude is, ‘if the market shortage is in affordability let’s give great affordable product … if I have to make 90 per cent of what another developer makes, that’s OK.’ ”

At the same time, the towers and their amenities will likely interest young people who want to shop at neighbourhood stores to the west and the chain- and big-box selection to the east, toward Metrotown.

Transit is nearby, with SkyTrain access at Joyce Street station within two blocks, and Patterson station to the east.

Even with a more budget-minded price point, Rennie says the Wall Centre Central Park details are evident everywhere. Inside, homebuyers will find a sense of luxury in the “really top-end tailored” kitchens, in particular. Interiors are the work of BYU Design, which also designed the interiors of Wall Centre False Creek.

“We said, ‘let’s make the kitchens really tailored. Since you can see the refrigerator from the living room, let’s put a wood-panelled front on it,’” Rennie says. “We spent a little extra to create solid values, because homeowners (are) very conservative today. A lot of gadgets and sparkly moving parts aren’t going to get people to buy.”

With laminate flooring underfoot, the suites, which range from 473 to 962 square feet, make the most of an efficient floor plan.

In the kitchen, there are quartz slab countertops, shaker-style cabinetry front, panelled Liebherr refrigerator, and a dishwasher and range from Porter and Charles. A countertop overhang makes for a handy breakfast bar. In the bathrooms, soaker tubs, Duravit toilets and undermount sinks and Grohe fixtures add the ever-important final touches, alongside marble stone countertops and mirrored medicine cabinets.

Here, a person can buy a 30th-floor, 500-square foot one-bedroom home with an enclosed balcony and small office space overlooking the lush greenery of Central Park for below $299,900, with the smaller one-bedrooms starting at $229,900.

In the end, offering Wall Centre finishes for a reasonable price is not only good business, but the most socially appropriate move in this Collingwood neighbourhood, Rennie says.

“(Some of) the views warrant an $800,000 price, but it wouldn’t make Peter Wall happy if any suite was sitting here empty for two years … (This price point) could be the threshold that suits local incomes.”

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